Preview by Flaco Jones

Flaco's 2015 Holiday Preview

This is setting up to be quite the interesting holiday season at the box office. Potentially two of the biggest movies ever are launching within a month of each other and there isn't much substantial in between as it seems everyone is avoiding competing with them directly. On one hand, it's smart because no studio wants to see their big movies dwarfed, but it also guarantees that these tentpole films will have a free ride to the top of the box office charts. Let's take a look at the big behemoths and the few movies that did decide to release around the same time.

NOVEMBER 20

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2

The first of the two box office monsters comes out a week before Thanksgiving in the states. Expect the highest Hunger Games box office ever as all the fans show up in droves on week 1 to send it off. The true test will be whether it has staying power once the story is all wrapped up.

The Night Before

This year's Seth Rogen comedy is not controversial enough to get the boot from theaters like last year's The Interview, but the big question is, “will it be funny?” It seems his movies have been trending downward since the meta apocalypse comedy This is the End, but they do still tend to make money.

NOVEMBER 25

The Good Dinosaur

Two Pixar movies in one year? This is a rare treat. However, in this case it's because The Good Dinosaur had a very un-Pixar-like troubled production with the original director getting replaced and having to start over from scratch. Still, having the massive success of this year's earlier hit Inside Out as a lead-in can't hurt.

Victor Frankenstein

Frankenstein is one of those classic movie franchises that, appropriately enough, everyone keeps trying to bring back to life even though it's never been as successful as the original back in 1931. This version looks to focus on the titular mad scientist and his relationship with his assistant Igor as its hook.

DECEMBER 4

Krampus

I miss cheesy monster movies, so when I saw they were mashing that idea up with a Christmas movie and adding a bunch of great comic actors it seemed like a good way to liven up the genre. Hopefully it has more of a Tremors vibe than recent too-serious horror films.

DECEMBER 11

In the Heart of the Sea

Ron Howard does his Ron Howard thing and gets yet another stellar cast together for some big budget action film. Maybe this is counter programming for the more sophisticated crowd with so many other movie goers attention elsewhere, but the trailer doesn't sound that interesting.

DECEMBER 18

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Did I mention there were two big movies this season? Because while I know Hunger Games is going to be huge, this has a chance to be historic. I would not at all be surprised if this movie broke every record, starting out with the biggest opening weekend ever followed by becoming the biggest box office hit of all time. It has all the nostalgia and momentum in it's corner now it just needs to not suck.

DECEMBER 25

The Revenant

Can't wait to see how the following three movies do in the aftermath of The Force the previous week, but I salute them for trying. First up, Leo DiCaprio once again adds another top flight director to his resume in the talented Alejandro González Iñárritu for this survival/revenge flick.

Point Break

I don't know how you remake such a classic cheesy action movie like the original Point Break, but if this movie can't at least sell the bromance like the original then I don't even care to bother with it.

The Hateful Eight

Tarantino's latest has the best chance to survive the post Star Wars box office. It’s perfect counterprogramming and he has a proven track record of scoring with the mature crowd over the holiday season. Plus, it's not like he needs to gross a small fortune to make a hit, since he keeps his budgets respectable.

So that's it for this holiday season! Vote below for your most anticipated as I'm really interested to see where films 3-10 land considering the top 2 are a lock. See you in January for the winter preview.

Flaco Jones is a former film school grad and current professional A/V nerd. You can follow him @flaco_jones on Twitter.

Comments

I'm a huge fan of Tarantino's work so The Hateful Eight is the top Holiday movie I'm looking forward to.

Even though he had to rewrite it because the script got leaked I am still a sucker for his work. Not to mention a stacked cast of his regulars and it being shot in 70 mm film so it should look beautiful.

I know, I hate to sound hipster and all, but Hateful Eight is my most anticipated as well. I just love Tarantino's films so much that whenever a new one comes out I have to see it as soon as possible. I'll still see Star Wars for sure, but I'll probably have wait to avoid the huge crowds.

The only movie I'm looking forward to this Holiday season is Star Wars: The Force Awakens, being a life long Star Wars fan, I always look forward to when a new Star Wars film comes out, They are like an event, and the whole world knows it.

I'll be seeing it on opening weekend, can't wait! :)

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